The Journey of an Atronach
by Mr. Scary Cat
Summary: The First Fire Golem to ever have its own free will was created. Will it learn to be like humans? Will it learn how to love? Or will it become confused by its master's shenanigans? "MUWAHAHAHAHA, NO ONE SHALL BE ABLE TO STOP ME FROM BUYING ALL HOT DOGS." Fire Golem: ...
1. Chapter 1

In a future where magic has become a main part of everyone's lives is far and unreal. In a world where dragons are roaming around, people claiming the end of the world, and war covering the lands, it just sounds impossible to find a future that is prosperous.

But… he found it.

Jolmar Half-Blood, Winterhold's Strongest Arch-Mage.

In just five years, he turned Winterhold into a major power within Skyrim, controlling and monopolizing the flow of magical technology. This single city has become synonymous with magical advancements. He made this city into an embodiment of his ideals, a city unaffected by war because of its great power.

The College under Jolmar's leadership broke its code on political neutrality and took over the entire region, as peacefully as possible. Because of the college claiming its control over the region, the Stormcloaks loss a significant amount of war power, resulting in its eventual loss against the Empire.

After the victory of the Empire, it attempted to secure its influence on Winterhold. But this attempt led to the hold's hostility, making an extreme show of force that the Empire had to retreat. With it effectively being a part of Skyrim yet out of the Empire's control, it attracted many Talos worshippers.

Eventually, Winterhold also enveloped the College of Whispers, increasing its strength even more. This rise in strength eventually turned Winterhold a powerhouse, rivaling Whiterun.

The Thalmor being enraged that there is a place in the Empire that is freely worshipping Talos causes tension between the two powers. The Empire eventually renounces its claim over Winterhold, effectively making it an independent power. Winterhold is still involved in Skyrim's politics, but is no longer protected by the Empire or its law.

On the 12th day of Morning Star, 207th year of the Fourth Era, Winterhold proclaims its independence. This day is considered as the Independence of not only the Hold, but also the worship of Talos. Because of this, many go to Winterhold as the land of magic and freedom.

Ever since then, Winterhold's Grand Magic Festival is held on the 12th day of Morning Star to commemorate its independence. On the same year, Winterhold opened its doors to anyone who was willing to learn, be it mage, warrior, or even farmer, if they could pay for it. Of course for anyone who didn't have the money was offered a plan where they took your services as payment instead of actual money. Because of this, enrolling into Winterhold had become the dream of many, to be able to lift their own families from poverty using magic.

This was the start of Winterhold's long journey as an independent state. But little did anyone knew, that only two years after Winterhold's initial independence, will it face an impending doom that would threaten its existence…

— Unknown POV, 12th day of Morning Star, 209th year of the Fourth Era, 11:42am —

One day, I suddenly felt something. From the darkness, I started thinking. From it, came "me".

When I opened my eyes, I was in a dark room that was covered in ash. Under me was a large sheet of metal that had strange glowing runes on it. I looked around and saw that besides me, no one was here.

"HOLY SHIT I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE."

Never mind…

A young man in his twenties was coughing while he tried to brush off the ash that was on him. It seemed that he was covered in the ash when I opened my eyes, which is no wonder I didn't see him. I looked at him intently and observed his facial features. Even after he cleaned the ash off, his skin was still as grey as the ash covering the room. His eyes were deep red, yet gentle and warm. His hair was black streaked with white, tied back into a pony tail. After he cleaned his face, he started cleaning what seemed to be his glasses. When he wore those round glasses, his cloudy red eyes suddenly became clear as they looked back at me.

"Incredible, I didn't think it would actually work."

He quickly wore some gloves and took some tools that seemed to be for measuring. He started measuring me all over, from my height, to the size of each of my limbs. After he was done measuring, he took out a notebook from his coat and started recording.

I took a step forward towards him to see what he was writing. When I stepped, the ground burned under me, and the floor suddenly caught on fire. The man, completely immersed in writing in his notebook, only realized the fire after I've closed the distance between us to one step.

"H-huh? AHH DAMMIT!" He immediately went to the side of the room and took a tool from the wall. He activated a tool that took out the fires around the room. After that he shoved me onto the metal plate. "Stay here, or you'll burn the dorms down!"

What? How was that my fault? I tilted my head in response to that statement. When the man was about to say something, he stopped himself and let out a sigh. He took out a new coat from the closet. "Just stay there okay? If you stay there without moving outside of the runes, I'll give you something pretty neat okay?"

He'll… give me something?

Before I did anything else, he quickly left the room. Without even cleaning up the ash inside the room, the man left me alone in this dimly lit room. Without anything to do, I sat cross-legged inside the runes.

I've waited for a while, but I don't know when the man is coming back. Though I'm not getting impatient, I'm just a little bored. Suddenly, a loud bell could be heard ringing. I think it came from outside? I'm not sure. But only a few moments after, I heard a huge explosion behind me. I looked back and saw through the window, a beautiful scene.

I didn't know how to describe it other than the word beautiful. Lights of different colors painting the originally black sky. In the distance the cheers could be heard whenever another light flies up to the sky. Mesmerized, I sat there and watched.

I don't know how long I've been watching, but at one moment, someone patted my head.

"Those, are called fireworks."

I looked back and saw the man; the things called 'fireworks' reflecting in his glasses.

While looking at the window, he lightly talked to himself. "Just eight years ago this city was no bigger than a small village. No one would've thought it could grow like this. People could be seen celebrating in the streets, merchants haggling, mages performing tricks."

He had a warm smile on his face while he was talking about this. After noticing that I was staring at him, he gave me a big smile and said, "Welcome to Winterhold, the home of all magic!"


	2. Chapter 2

— Verkan's POV, 13th day of Morning Star, 209th year of the Fourth Era, 2:04am —

"Thank you for purchasing from Largash Magecrafts, we hope we see you soon."

After measuring my golem, I quickly went out and ordered a set of runed armor for him. The Fire Golem I made was brought using a magic formation etched on a steel sheet, so I plan on making him armor so that he could leave my apartment. Largash Magecrafts is one of the highest quality workshops that imbues magic, so this was the obvious choice for me even though it's a little pricey.

After placing an order, I immediately left the shop and went straight home. On the road home, there was still so much people on the streets celebrating the Grand Fest. You could see some stalls selling grilled wolves and skeevers. On a large square, some magicians were performing using illusion spells to entertain the crowd. Illusion spells of course are only illegal when it influences the person's mental state, sensory level spells are completely safe. Even at this time it was still noisy and lively as day.

"Damn it's freezing."

I cast a Fire Wisp spell to warm me up while going back home. Even though at this time of the year the temperature is low enough to freeze our breaths, the people are still festive and prancing about, sometimes even shirtless. Before anything though, I stopped by a stall and bought three hotdog sandwiches for a light midnight snack.

When I went deeper into the residential district, the amount of noise in the surroundings suddenly dropped. Even though it's one of the most festive days of the year, there are still some who would rather spend the night quietly.

Right before I arrived at my apartment complex, a two storey building made of stone bricks, fireworks started shooting up. Apparently there were some complications with the firework display, which led to a delayed showing. I went to the second floor and unlocked my room.

When I opened the door, I saw the fire golem sitting in a cross-legged position facing the window. It was currently sitting in the middle of the room on top of a metal sheet where the magical formation was inscribed. The rest of the room was ash gray from the explosion, but all the dust seemed to have settled on the ground.

I slowly walked up to the golem and saw that it was mesmerized by the fireworks display. I kind of felt warm inside when I saw this adult sized creature have the look of a curious baby.

I crouched beside him while adjusting my glasses. "Those, are fireworks."

The Golem turned his head in surprise. He looked at me with it's featureless face of fire. Even though he didn't have a single feature on his face, I could tell that he was looking at me intently, curious about my words.

I let out a smile and started talking to him, even introducing myself to him. I talked about how the history of the city, and how in just several years it became the most prosperous city in Skyrim. Me being a chatterbox, I didn't even confirm if he could understand me. I asked him if he could and he said yes, so I kept going on and on about how great this city was.

I was really emotional you know? I was born and raised here, and saw how it grew into a big great city of stone. I saw how the Arch-Mage pioneered new studies and research. I saw and tried to understand the mysteries of the world, just like the Arch-Mage. And on the second year of Winterhold's independence, I finally made magic worth mentioning, a sentient golem.

On this special day I felt like crying.

"Excuse me sir, we're here about the complaints of something burning and screaming?"

Goddammit.

Three officers in black came inside the apartment. They were all wearing uniform black leather armor, along with a compact shield on their left. They were looking around and saw me in the middle of the apartment.

"Hey what the hell!? You can't just barge into someone's apartment!"

"Sir, we were knocking for several minutes, and the door wasn't even locked…"

Okay, I admit that I was a bit lazy, but still! Give a guy some privacy.

"We came here because of reports of something burning and screaming." The guy in the middle eyed the golem. "Sir, do you have a permit for magical experimentation?"

"Yes, in fact I have," I said as I was looking for the permit in my bag, "so can you please leave me alone after this? Since clearly I've got everything under control"

I took a piece of paper from my bag, "See? Here's the permit."

The policeman took the paper and scanned it. He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. "Sir, this is a receipt for hotdogs…"

"Wait, what the f*ck?"

I took the paper from him and saw that it really was a receipt. I was pretty sure I threw this away though— ah, so that's what happened.

At this moment, I knew I f*cked up.

Seeing me freeze in place for a whole minute, the policeman rolled his eyes and told me. "Sir, I need you to come down to the department to settle some papers, for now we will have to get you detained for unauthorized magical experiments."

"Wait, wait, wait I'm telling you I really did have a permit!"

"Sir, please just come with us quietly."

"Stop! Don't touch me!"

I didn't want to spend my Grand Fest in a cell! I finally made my own creation! I can't give that up now! I gathered magic in my hands and started casting a fireball. "I'm warning you, don—"

As I said that, I was shot with something and then my body suddenly froze.

"That paralysis spell sure is convenient, cuff him so we can get this over with."

F*ck, I failed.

"Sir what will we do about that?"

The officers look back to my golem. When the paralysis wore off, I also took a look and saw the golem stand up from his sitting position. The temperature around us started rising, even the police officers made a soft gulp. When he was directly looking at me, his face which had no features, formed a makeshift mouth. I was hoping in my heart that he wouldn't go berserk upon seeing his master in a poor state.

After a few seconds of dramatic pause, he let out a soft voice. "You…"

"You…?"

"…are an idiot."

…

Wait… is he referring to me?

Wait, wait, wait, wat.

While I was busy processing his words, he continued. "The police really wouldn't have had to use violence if you weren't planning on fighting. It really is your fault on why you're currently half-paralyzed."

Upon saying these words with a crisp and clear sound, the police also just stood there with their mouth wide open.

The golem sat back down, "I can't survive outside out this formation, if you're bringing me anywhere, bring this metal sheet with me on top."

Only after did he say that when the middle police gave a light cough. "Bring the metal sheet and the golem. We'll have to deliver it to the college for safer keeping."

At this point I was only ever so slightly crying inside. How could he betray his own master? And all this time I thought his intelligence level was at a child's wuuuu.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Stop crying."

Apparently I was actually crying on the outside to. Let's just say they were tears of joy by being moved by the creation's growth. Yes, that's definitely it.

"What a weird mage."

"You should be saying what a weird golem!"

The police officers all looked at me. Ah sh*t I accidentally said it out loud. Well whatever, I'm gonna stop talking now.

So this is how I spent my Grand Fest Eve, being locked up by police.


End file.
